No looking away
On isolationism, Queen Victoria, and why remaining silent in the face of evil isn't much of a choice
Imperialism -- if defined as the use of power or force to bring one community involuntarily under the control of another -- is an empirically bad practice. Whether it's by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, the Russians under Peter the Great, or the English under Queen Victoria, imperialist practices not only deprive the subjugated people of their natural right to self-determination, they also tend to corrupt the souls of the imperialist nation. It is perfectly natural for people to look at imperialist behavior and react with revulsion.
■ But the antidote to imperialism isn't disengagement. Withdrawal from the world is not the same as correcting the errors of the past or reforming the imperfections of the present.
■ That's the problem with isolationism -- especially when practiced by a country with great power, like the United States. Few acts of imperialist aggression have ever been as plainly wrong as the Russian invasion of Ukraine. To adopt a posture of indifference towards it is to tacitly endorse the aggression.
■ High-minded principles should settle the matter. But even without those principles, enlightened self-interest should drive us to the same conclusion.
■ Consider that India and Pakistan, two enormous and nuclear-armed nations both long subjected to British imperial rule, may be on the verge of large-scale open conflict today in no small part because of the inelegant partition imposed on them by imperial rulers three-quarters of a century ago. Many choices have long-lasting consequences, but few are as long-lasting or as significant as those a established under an imperial regime.
■ Before turning our backs on the world as it is, we should reckon with the lessons of history and realize that consequences will follow. We cannot repair every act of imperialism from the past, but we can do much better than to feign neutrality in the face of wrongs today.
